Sunday, February 24, 2013

Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…

Psalm 121:1

Devotional
Thought:

…I lift up
mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

In Psalm 23,
David speaks of walking in “the valley.”But there can be no valley without mount-tains, true?Psalm 23 is the “valley psalm” between two “mountain
psalms,” Psalm 22 deals with the crucifixion of the Messeah.Psalm 24 deals with the coronation of the
Messiah and the Second Coming.So in the
valley of Psalm 23, on one side are the blood-drenched slopes of Mount Calvary
and on the other are the sunlit peaks of mount Zion.

Action
Point:

Are you down
in the valley?Then look to the
mountains.Praise him for dying for you
and rejoice in the hope of His coming again!Thank God we can say with David, “…I will lift up mine eyes unto the
hills…”

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

…Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Our tendency to remember the bad and forget the good is evidenced
in the life of Job.His name has become
synonymous with trials.But perhaps we
need to focus on the triumph Job experienced through his trials.

Job valued four things in his life: faith, family, fortune, and
friends.Satan tried to extinguish them
all, hoping Job would curse God.Instead, we find a grieving Job responding to the greatness of God,
reflecting on the goodness of God, and refusing to assign guilt to God.Instead of Job, Satan might have been the one
cursing!Job kept his integrity
intact.God was enough for him---with or
without the other things he valued.

Do you bless God when you don’t understand what He’s doing in your
life?Job models for us the kind of
believer who trusts God in the mist of severe and unexplainable
circumstances.Job expressed his grief
to God, and God wants to hear the cries of our hearts too.But let’s remember Job for the triumph he
experienced through his testing---he remained guiltless before God.Open your eyes today to the absolute,
all-sufficiency of Almighty God.He is
enough!

Recommended Reading: Job1:1-22

Quote

He who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God
only.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen you
heart…

The word “courage” had somewhat of an identity crisis today.Some think of courage as the absence of
fear.Actually, courage is persevering in spite of fear.Some of the most courageous men and women
have prevailed in spite of weakness, sickness, and persecution.

After two millennia, the beautiful Jewish woman Ester is still
remembered for courageously stepping forward to preserve the Jewish
nation.When alerted to Haman’s evil
plan to annihilate the Jews, Esther asked her cousin Mordecai to mobilize the prayer
team as she endangered her life to approach the king without his summons.In Esther’s moment of crisis, she wisely
spent three days in prayer and fasting---before making her request to the king.

If you’re experiencing a situation where you need courage to make
a decision, don’t rush ahead.The more
crucial the decision or project, the more critical the groundwork.Make preparation through prayer, asking
others to support you.It is then that
God will reinforce your courage and give you strength to proceed.

Monday, February 18, 2013

And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncles’
daughter, for she had neither father nor mother.The young woman was lovely and
beautiful.When her father and mother
died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

Raising little girls to one day become women of God is a
challenging proposition today because the culture emphasizes the number of
friends the “like” on social media, their position or status, and their physical
appearance.This sad commentary on the
values our society is propagating is shocking, but it provides a reminder of
how important it is for all young women to have a godly role model who
emphasizes their true worth and importance in the sight of God.

The story of Esther shows a beautiful orphaned young woman who did
have someone who watched and cared for her, providing the protection of a home
until she was chosen to be in King Ahasuerus’ household; and even then offering
wise spiritual counsel and comfort to her.Mordecai, her cousin, adopted Esther, “as his own daughter” when she
became orphaned.This imagery is not
lost on us today that our heavenly Father watches over us even when we feel we
are all alone and facing difficult challenges in our lives.He goes before us offering direction and
protection.

Recommended Reading: Titus 2:11-14

Quote

I trust in God, I know He cares for me, upon the land, or on the
rolling sea, tho’ billows roll, He keeps my soul, my heav’nly Father watches
over me.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

But above all these things put on love, which
is the bond of perfection.

In his book on auditioning for Broadway, director Michael
Shurtleff tells actors to consider every scene in a play a “love scene.”It’s not that every scene is romantic.But every scene has emotion, and our core
emotion is love.“The desire for love,
to give it or receive it… is the chief propellant in human beings,” wrote
Shurtleff.“An actor had best learn
that.”

We’d best all learn that.Every experience in life is a love scene, and Christians are to love as
Jesus loves.The Bible speaks of putting
on love like a garment.Colossians 2:14
(NLT) says, “Above all, clothe yourselves with love.”It’s a cloak we never remove.Since the bible uses this symbol, why not
take a moment and visualize it.Look at the
clothed you’re wearing today.Think of
them as radiating love.Think of
yourself as wearing the invisible threads of love, doing good, meeting needs,
shedding offenses, showing compassion, projecting friendliness.That’s the uniform of the Christian.

Recommended Reading: Colossians 3:12-14

Quote

If I take offense easily; if I am content to continue in
cold unfriendliness, though friendship be possible, then I know nothing of
Calvary love.

So it was, when Elijah heard [the still small voice].That he wrapped his face in his mantle and
went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Jonah fled from God only to find God was in the middle of the
sea.Peter was afraid to identify with
Jesus only to find that Jesus wasn’t afraid to identify with him.Moses fled from Pharaoh only to find God in a
burning bush in Midian.Paul was locked
in jail in Rome and found the joy of the Lord.David Discovered there was nowhere he could go without encountering God.

Throughout Scripture, people learned it is impossible to go
anywhere without encountering God.So
when Elijah fled for his life and hid in a cave from the evil King Ahab, he
discovered God was already there and had a question:“What are you doing here, Elijah?”When we are at the low points in our life, God
is always there with the same question---through His Word, through a person, or
through a thought.He wants us to wrestle
with why we are where we are so we can move to a better place.

Are you somewhere today, trying to hide from God?Here’s the question: What are you doing there?God is waiting to encourage you to move on
with Him.

Recommended Reading: Psalm 139:1-12

Quote

A man may hide God from himself, and yet he cannot hide himself
from God.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

A
contemplation of David.A prayer when he
was in the cave.I cry out to the Lord
with my voice…

A recent
story in the Los Angeles Times reported
that 30 million people in the Shaanxi province of China live in caves.Some of these cave homes have multiple rooms
with brick masonry.Some have
electricity and running water.They’re
cool in summer, protected in winter, and energy efficient.According to the story, a cave with three
bedrooms and a bath is going for about $46,000.

When he
wrote Psalm 142, David wasn’t so enthusiastic about his cave.He was hiding there lonely and troubled
(verse 2), overwhelmed (verse 3), thinking no one cared whether he lived or
died (verse 4), persecuted and imprisoned by circumstances (verses 6-7).

That’s exactly
what he told the Lord as he wrote Psalm 142.He freely expressed his pain and perplexities in prayer.His example reminds us that we don’t have to
couch our prayers in lofty language.We
can tell the Lord just how we feel.He
listens patiently.He understands.And in His own way and time, He’ll answer.

Recommended
Reading: Psalm 142

Quote

Before God
we may speak out our minds fully, and name the persons that afflict, affront,
and trouble us…I find not that such a prayer in Scripture ever returned empty.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

A favorite
birthday surprise planned by parents for young children (and creative folks of
all ages and situations) it the “Trail of Clues.”As each clue is discovered and read, the
celebrant gets closer and closer to uncovering the present or surprise toward
which all the clues have been directing him or her.The clues seem random and unrelated, and in a
birthday setting they are.They are tied
together only by their collective goal of reaching the blessing at the end.

In a limited
sense, the Christian life is like that “Trail of Clues.” Just as a child trust
that the clues are not meaningless but lead to a conclusion, so we trust that
the “clues” in our life---the events and circumstances---are taking us in the
direction God wants us to go.They are
moving us toward a destination, or a lifetime of destinations, called “knowing
God.”After all, knowing Him and being
conformed to the image of His Son is the ultimate prize in Life.And all things---all “clues”---work together
to cause us to find the blessing (Romans 8:28-29).

Ask God
today for sensitivity to clues He reveals.Treasure each one and ask Him to move you faithfully toward Christlikeness.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed
her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) uses the phrase in its teachings.Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., used a similar
phrase.And many others who have found
themselves in the midst of difficult situation, when directions are missing for
the next step, have relied on the maxim: So the next right thing.

Even those who rely on God’s guidance don’t always know the next
step.Take Ruth, for example.A Moabitess who married into a Jewish family,
her father-in –law, and husband died and she was left with her mother-in-law,
Naomi.When Naomi decided to return to
Bethlehem to her people, she urged Ruth to stay in Moab with her own
people.What should Ruth do?She did the next right thing’ remain loyal to
her mother-in-law, return with her to Bethlehem, and help provide for her.So she did---Naomi and Ruth journeyed to
Bethlehem where, in time, God Blessed Ruth with a prosperous husband and
security for her and Naomi.

When confused about what steps to take next, doing the next right
thing in God’s sight is always a good choice.God Blesses faith steps---and one step leads to another.

Recommended Reading: Ruth 1:16-18

Quote

Guidance is not normally ecstatic or mystical.It is always ethical and intensely practical.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Then [the thief] said to
Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

To demonstrate how different the kingdom of God is from the
kingdom of this world, Jesus told a parable that stands the notion of fairness
on its head.The owner of a vineyard
hired workers throughout the day, up until the last hour of the day.When it came time to pay them for their
labors, every worker got the same pay as the ones hired first---the ones who
had worked all day laboring in the sun.Those hired first thought this was highly irregular and unfair.They worked more and thought they deserved
more than the others.

The principle that “the last will be first” (Matthew 20:16) is a
kingdom principle illustrated in other places.A thief, hanging next to Jesus on the cross, had his request for
forgiveness and salvation granted in the last hour of his life.Blind Samson, after his unfaithfulness led
him to be captured and tortured by the Philistines, cried out to God for
strength to pu8ll down the Philistine temple upon himself---and God granted the
request.

We don’t earn God’s ear by our good works.God hears and answers prayer by grace.Don’t be afraid to call out to Him when you
think you least deserve His help.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Put on the
new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and
holiness.

Ever been in a mud pit?Believe it or not, it’s a favorite experience for youngsters at summer
camp.They can slip, slide, roll and
wrestle in the mud to their hearts’ content before being hosed down and heading
for the showers.For most adults,
however, jumping in the mud has lost its charm.

Isaiah 64:6 says that without God’s forgiveness we’re dressed in “filthy
rags.”We’re caked with mud and
filth.After His forgiveness, we’re
clothed in the righteousness of Christ.Becoming
a Christian means, according to Colossians 3 and Ephesians 4, that we “put off
the old man with his deeds,” such as anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy
language, and lying.We clothe ourselves
in “the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him
[Christ].”

Take a moment and imagine being covered with mud, mire, grime, and
filth.Now think of hot showers and
fresh clothes.That’s a picture of how
it feels to put on the new man.That’s
what it means to be a forgiven follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Quote

I was like a stone that lies in deep mud, and He who is mighty
came and in His compassion raised me up and exalted me very high and placed me
on the top of the wall.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Beginning Bible readers are often struck by the people God chose
to serve Him in various endeavors.To
put it plainly, they seem so… Well, normal!So imperfect!There are
exceptions, but most of them were ordinary people through whom the Holy Spirit
worked in spite of weakness and imperfection.

Samson was a man used greatly by God---but he was also a deeply
flawed character.He was vain,
impetuous, deceitful, and a bit spoiled, humanly speaking.But he was also a lifelong Nazirite, set
apart by his parents (at God’s command) for God’s service.The Holy Spirit came upon Samson powerfully
in his role as a judge in Israel, his challenge being to defeat the Philistines
that tormented Israel.Samson’s
successes and failures raise the question, why does God use flawed people to
accomplish His Purpose?The first reason
is that He only has flawed people to work with?But second, when God accomplished great things through imperfect people,
it is clear who gets the glory.

Whatever your imperfections, God’s purposes are made all the more
glorious through you as you trust in Him.

Recommended Reading: Nehemiah 13:25-26, Judges 3:1-5

Quote

All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God
because they reckoned on God being with them.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to
show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to him.

Historians have marveled how an uneducated, rugged boy like Dwight
Moody could sway great crowds and lead thousands to Christ.Responding to these questions, Dr. R. A.
Torrey wrote a tract after Moody’s death in 1899, entitled, Why God Used D. L. Moody.He said, in part, “The first thing that
accounts for God’s using D. L. Moody so mightily was that he was a
fully-surrendered man.Every ounce of
that 280-pound body of his belonged to God; everything he was and everything he
had belonged wholly to God.Now, I am
not saying that Mr. Moody was perfect; he was not… nevertheless I know that he
was a man who belonged wholly to God.”

Torrey went on to say that Moody was greatly moved by this
statement by Henry Varley: “It remains to be seen what God will do with a man
who gives himself up wholly to Him.”Moody replied, “Well, I will be that man.”

We can all be that man or woman.God wants to use us, but we must give ourselves wholly to Him.

Recommended Reading: 2 Chronicles 16:7-10

Quote

If you and I are to be used in our sphere as D. L. Moody was used
in his, we must put all that we have and all that we are in the hands of God,
for Him to use as He will.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Dr. B. Raymond Edman, former president of Wheaton College, wrote
of being forced from the mission field by illness as a young man.His weight had fallen from 165 pounds to 120,
and he had to sail from Ecuador.Aboard
ship, he comforted himself in 2 Corinthians.When he came to the last paragraph of chapter 2, the verses struck him
like nails.He was shaken by the thought
that “God…always leads us in triumph in Christ” (verse 14), and diffuses
through us the fragrance of Christ” (verse 14).Verse 16 asks: “Who is sufficient for these things?”

Those versed led Edman to make a renewed surrender of himself to
Christ, one that changed the course of his life.He realized only Christ was all sufficient to
lead him in triumph as he said to him, “Anywhere, Anything.”

We aren’t sufficient in ourselves to do anything by ourselves, but
praise the Lord---our sufficiency is in Christ who always leads us in paths of
righteousness.He leads us in triumph.

Monday, February 4, 2013

As we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those
who are of the household of faith.

Lotteries are pickpockets.They stick their hands into our purses like a street-corner thief.Even those rare souls who “win” the lottery
often lose.Psychologist tell us that
people who win vast sums often lose their sense of purpose.Their money distracts them from their life’s
agenda.They quit their jobs, change
habits, go on sprees, and confuse their goals.That’s why we hear stories like the man in Texas, who, two years after
winning 31 million dollars, killed himself.Strange feelings of worthlessness befall those with deep pockets but
shallow hearts.

The richest life imaginable is awaking every morning with a sense
of purpose, knowing God has something for us to do.He has people for us to reach, cheer for us
to spread, smiles for us to share, tasks for us to tackle, and souls for us to
influence.Knowing what we’re called to
do is a greater blessing than striking it rich.Take each opportunity daily to do His good will, and you’ll be truly rich.

Recommended Reading

Galatians 6:7-10

Quote

Christ is gloriously rich?Oh?There is abundance yea, a
redundancy of grace and riches in Christ.He is full of grace as the sea is full of water or the sun is full of
light.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

And the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun with you, a
man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.”

There is no shortage of tools available to help pick the right
person for the right job.Does the task
require numbers ability?Managerial
ability?Big-picture ability?How about Courage?When it came to picking a successor for
Moses, courage was at the top of the list.

From a human perspective, Joshua had already demonstrated the kind
of courage necessary to invade and settle the land of Canaan.Joshua defeated the Amelekites in Israel’s
first fight after leaving Egypt (Exodus17).And Joshua (along with Caleb) wasn’t afraid to tackle the giants in the
land that the 12 spies observed (Numbers 13).So when it came time to pick a leader for Israel’s invasion of Canaan,
Joshua was the obvious, courageous choice.It is interesting that Moses changed Joshua’s name from Hoshea
(“salvation”) to Jehoshua (“Yahweh is salvation”) (Numbers 13:16).Was it to remind Joshua that his natural
courage needed to remain dependent on the Lord?

Courage may not appear on modern job descriptions, but it is a
requirement for being a Christian.Courage is nothing more than faith and trust in God.